Turkey Smoking

Yesterday I think I made the best turkey I’ve had the pleasure of cooking and/or eating thus far. Again, redoubling the praise I’m heaping upon the smoker that we were talked into buying while walking through Costco.

We took the basic recipe that we got from Traeger and did everything except the cooking part by it. Instead of setting the smoker to 350º I set it to 230º and let it really smoke for a long time. The thing with smokers is that the optimum smoking happens between 225 and 250. Much above that and you start to burn the wood instead of letting it smolder, which is how you get the smoke.

Sitting there in the smoke for seven hours gave it all the smoke this turkey needed. The final glaze gave it that hit of sweet. The smoke balanced out the gaminess of the bird. Amazing!

Check out that bit of a smoke ring that goes right through the skin! :-D